What Would Be the Realistic Range of Daredevil’s Hearing?
As discussed in “Could “Daredevil” really “see” while blind?” - Daredevil could in fact realistically “visualize” a three dimensional representation of the world using his hearing alone. How “super” could Daredevil’s hearing get otherwise? How well could he hear without powers beyond all human capacity?
In the audio industry, people with especially keen listening skills are called “Golden Ears” - which gives them bragging rights they can whisper very softly to each other if they don’t want anyone else to hear. This said, there’s a fair amount of skepticism about the existence of people with auditory abilities significantly beyond this (required to even approach Daredevil’s level). TrustMeImaScientist.com has their own “Golden Ear Challenge” - with the byline “Who Will Conquer Audio Mount Everest?” So far, their prize goes unclaimed.
(“Say what?”)
Having amazingly sensitive hearing can be problematic. Unlike in the case of vision, where one can close one’s eyes or turn one’s head select and deselect visuals, people with especially sensitive hearing can have great difficulty, as they can hear too much, too loudly, without the ability to filter sounds out. This is called “hyperacusis”, which can lead to tales of personal woe like: “My Super Hearing Made My Life A Misery”. By and large, people with hyperacusis are not perched on rooftops, honing in on distant cries for help, or the far off rumblings of a villain’s car; instead, they’re more likely to be at home, plugging their ears, avoiding crunchy food.
The farthest ranges of human hearing are considered to be 20,000 kHz on the one end (like a high insect buzz), and, on the other end, according to Guinness World Records 12 Hz, with the body being able to feel sound vibrations as low as 4 Hz (a very low rumble). While a human’s best range is better than many animals, it pales to the hearing range of cows, cats, ferrets and several other creatures.
This means as “amazing” (and unrealistic) as Daredevil’s hearing may be, without any extra-human ability, a cow standing next to him would have greater auditory range. Just imagine if that cow had been blind since childhood. Wow.
